» Fri May 27, 2011 11:52 pm
Daggerfall did start you out imprisoned (by a cave-in), and in a dungeon. The specifics of how you got there aren't quite the same, but in many ways I'd call Morrowind the odd one out -- you got to see the sky within the first minute of gameplay, unlike any of the other three.
Anyway, I agree that Oblivion left a little too much out. If you were in THAT prison, how did you get there and why didn't anyone local recognize you? The other three all had plausible excuses for that, and little to no implication that you were actually a criminal. In Arena you were imprisoned for political reasons; in Daggerfall by a random act of nature; in Morrowind by the Blades so they could ship you to Vvardenfell. In all three cases, you were either explicitly not local, or easily assumed as such. None of these backgrounds force a particular character upon you, but they all answer some questions that would otherwise nag. In Oblivion... well, you're just a prisoner. Stop right there, criminal scum!
I frankly loathed Oblivion's character generation system. I've got these amazing birthsign powers, but I forgot! Really? Come on! That's almost excusable for class abilities if you assume you're only there because you're REALLY drunk, but in service of the class-suggestion system, everyone had to start with a couple of (identical) spells, and that utterly revolted me. Morrowind's in-engine character generation was innovative and didn't interfere with the game any more or less than the pre-gameplay generation of Arena and Daggerfall. Oblivion took it several steps too far. Dial it back a notch, please.
Honestly not sure whether I prefer Morrowind's method of throwing you straight into society, or the other three with their immediate dungeon crawls. Tradition makes me fond of the latter, but after your first dozen characters it does get a bit repetitive whereas in Morrowind I could wander in any direction. Morrowind was also the least heavy-handed in kicking you onto the main plot, and I'd definitely like to see similar treatment even with a dungeon start.